Hmm. He's a really cool card to build a deck around, but he's very untourney worthy. A lot of people have mentioned that he's hard to play, but that's not the big killer here; the problem is that he's a very, very slow combo.
I mean, okay, you play him. The turn after you play him, you can go fetch your first enchantment - and it'll likely be a protection of some kind for him. The turn after that, you can start fetching out other pieces. But as has been pointed out, there aren't a whole lot of killer combos to grab with this. Megrim/Underworld Dreams? Again, super slow. Pillory? Also slow. Both of these strategies like to take the long kind of play, which will likely mean that you won't be playing this guy early at all; at best, he'll come out in the midgame or late game, and by then he's a really poor finisher.
Don't get me wrong - I really like him, and I really think that he has a creative, interesting ability that interacts well with other sets and the colors he is. The big problem is that the ability is one of those that is either not that great except casually or extraordinarily broken; that's the nature of tutoring and free stuff.
Somehow, there's gotta be a way to make him infinitely attack.
Wow, If it wasn't for the fact that he was 3 colors, this thing would be very strong, it has many advantages in itself already. 4 toughness can live through a lot of today's removal, and the enchantment tutoring is very nice. I think somene will try to break it
It's blue because it flies I guess... something that blue shares with white.
Except for that vexing black mana in the casting cost... this card appeals to me. I wasn't planning on buying any Coldsnap. But I might just to get this.
"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
Bane's Reading Suggestions David Eddings: The Belgariad, Mallorean, Elenium and Tamuli Series. The Redemption of Althalus Jim Butcher: The Codex Alera Series
There are 2 decks that strike me immediately to use with Zur. The first being a sort of Tallowisp 2.0 deck- running the basic tallowisp engine and adding him and some non-creature enchantments-
Tallowisp 2.0 (Zur and Friends)
4x Castigate
4x Dark Confidant
4x Zur
4x Tallowisp
4x Azorious Herold
3x Plagued Rusalka
3x Shining Shoal
2x Pillory of the Sleepless
2x Kami of Ancient Law
1x Promise of Bunrei
1x Genju of the Fields
1x Story Circle
1x Shielding Plax
1x Shadow Lance
1x Enfeeblement
1x Phyrexian Arena
23 lands
The other deck I think is more promising- being a UWB control deck, similar to the ones around in invasion standard. You can play the Zur having counter backup- you attack and take care of their threats with what you fetch while you counter their spells.
Zur-Go
4x Mana Leak
4x Remand
4x Hinder
4x Zur
2x Windreaver
3x Wrath of God
3x Castigate
2x Phyrexian Arena
2x Pillory of the Sleepless
1x Cage of Hands
1x Story Circle
1x Enfeeblement
1x Threads of Disloyalty
1x Shielding Plax
1x Mark of Eviction
1x Genju of the Fields
1x Genju of the Falls
24 Land
The Zur-Go deck looks very promising, as that it can handle just about anything thrown at it. Also the deck lets you have your mana free on their turn for almost all but the turn you play Zur. Against control you'll want to grab the plax, then arena, and then probably genju of the falls to start winning. Against aggro- its more like wrath, zur, plax, remove any creature they try to play.
Both decks allow for a complete toolbox sideboard based on metagame. They both have heavy mana requirements tho, so the land bases need to be built carefully.
To consider hot good Zur is, I think he needs to be compared to Theiving Magpie/Shadowmage infiltrator/Jushi Apprentice/etc. All of these cards have seen their fair share of standard play. Magpie is the closest card to Zur for comparison as that its the same CC- not only does Zur have +1 toughness, but then instead of drawing a card- zur searches it out and puts it into play- saving your mana- all of these creatures have been used in decks where mana on your opponants turn is of upmost importance- he not only saves you that- but deals with threats that slip through your countermagic. Zur is just plain amazing- and if he doesn't show up in many top 8s, I will eat my shoe.
Zur is Black because he selfishly wants to make himself more powerful. Flavour text.
Zur is Blue because he wants to empower himself through finding tricks and other things he can do which others can't mimic (the compulsive enchanting). It's sorta Black but he's also interested in the gaining of abilities for their own sake.
Zur is White because he ties these two motivations together by believing, in his insanity, that he has to do this. It is a "personal order" situation. He thinks that he has to do this to himself just like anyone else has to eat or sleep. It's just the way things are, for him.
It's a bit rickety, but it's better than the other 3-colours I've seen...
P.S. Nice decklists, One-Gram.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Epic banner by Erasmus of æтђєг.
Awesome avatar provided by Krashbot @ [Epic Graphics].
Along with Ohran Viper, this is one of the best previews in Coldsnap for me. I really think this card will see play.
At 4 mana, it basically tutors for card draw + pump effects. The idea that the opponent can not stop the enchantment from hitting play should allow you to have a lot of flexibility when you reach for your enchantment.
First, the best card to grab immediately would be Shielding Plax. It nets you a card, provides untargetability, and can be hard casted if necessary. Preferably, you have mana available to counter any threat or remove a troublesome blocker that would otherwise kill Zur.
After Shielding Plax is on Zur, you can basically do whatever you want with it, fetching multiple Pillory of the Sleepless, Phrexian Arena, or other forms of removal/card advantage. You could effectively stall any creature attack from an opponent with a combination of Ghostly Prison and Pillory/Plumes of Peace effects. This still fits great into Ghost Dad, and would fit perfectly in that build. I'm not sure if it would replace the "Dad" himself, but it is a great engine. If you need to make Zur bigger for a faster clock, Shadow Lance is a great target as well. You can still put the Lance on after Shielding Plax since his ability does not target.
All in all, if it survives the turn you play it, it should win you the game.
as for me zur is the best legend on coldsnap so far... followed by arcum. this card will see a lot of play in constructed because of a lot of good enchantments on standard...
I love this card. i had a WUB enchantment deck( though at one point it did have green instead of black i could never decidse which way i liked it more lol) and i will definetly have to revive it now.
I see awesome potential with this and ertai the corrupted. one blue mana and tap for a counter spell basically. and if u throw in green for moldervine cloak you can dredge it for more counter-y fun. or probably better then adding in green put in hanna ships navigator
I don't think the mechanic of the card justifies black, but I'm okay with him being black for flavour reasons. Of course, the real reason is that they needed a WUB legend in the set, to make things symmetrical.
For those who can't seem to think of a way to play a three colour deck in Standard, are you nuts?
1) Any dual land, go.
2) Basic land, any signet, go.
3) Basic land, Zur.
How hard was that? The "dual" in turn 1 could even be one of the snowy taplands. Don't forget Pillar of the Paruns.
I mean, okay, you play him. The turn after you play him, you can go fetch your first enchantment - and it'll likely be a protection of some kind for him. The turn after that, you can start fetching out other pieces. But as has been pointed out, there aren't a whole lot of killer combos to grab with this. Megrim/Underworld Dreams? Again, super slow. Pillory? Also slow. Both of these strategies like to take the long kind of play, which will likely mean that you won't be playing this guy early at all; at best, he'll come out in the midgame or late game, and by then he's a really poor finisher.
Don't get me wrong - I really like him, and I really think that he has a creative, interesting ability that interacts well with other sets and the colors he is. The big problem is that the ability is one of those that is either not that great except casually or extraordinarily broken; that's the nature of tutoring and free stuff.
Somehow, there's gotta be a way to make him infinitely attack.
R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
Ah, the flavour. That's ... annoying.
As has been stated, white has a long history of searching for Encahntments.
Take Golden Wish and Enlightened Tutor for example.
It's blue because it flies I guess... something that blue shares with white.
Except for that vexing black mana in the casting cost... this card appeals to me. I wasn't planning on buying any Coldsnap. But I might just to get this.
Under Original Management!
Bane's Reading Suggestions
David Eddings: The Belgariad, Mallorean, Elenium and Tamuli Series. The Redemption of Althalus
Jim Butcher: The Codex Alera Series
Tallowisp 2.0 (Zur and Friends)
4x Castigate
4x Dark Confidant
4x Zur
4x Tallowisp
4x Azorious Herold
3x Plagued Rusalka
3x Shining Shoal
2x Pillory of the Sleepless
2x Kami of Ancient Law
1x Promise of Bunrei
1x Genju of the Fields
1x Story Circle
1x Shielding Plax
1x Shadow Lance
1x Enfeeblement
1x Phyrexian Arena
23 lands
The other deck I think is more promising- being a UWB control deck, similar to the ones around in invasion standard. You can play the Zur having counter backup- you attack and take care of their threats with what you fetch while you counter their spells.
Zur-Go
4x Mana Leak
4x Remand
4x Hinder
4x Zur
2x Windreaver
3x Wrath of God
3x Castigate
2x Phyrexian Arena
2x Pillory of the Sleepless
1x Cage of Hands
1x Story Circle
1x Enfeeblement
1x Threads of Disloyalty
1x Shielding Plax
1x Mark of Eviction
1x Genju of the Fields
1x Genju of the Falls
24 Land
The Zur-Go deck looks very promising, as that it can handle just about anything thrown at it. Also the deck lets you have your mana free on their turn for almost all but the turn you play Zur. Against control you'll want to grab the plax, then arena, and then probably genju of the falls to start winning. Against aggro- its more like wrath, zur, plax, remove any creature they try to play.
Both decks allow for a complete toolbox sideboard based on metagame. They both have heavy mana requirements tho, so the land bases need to be built carefully.
To consider hot good Zur is, I think he needs to be compared to Theiving Magpie/Shadowmage infiltrator/Jushi Apprentice/etc. All of these cards have seen their fair share of standard play. Magpie is the closest card to Zur for comparison as that its the same CC- not only does Zur have +1 toughness, but then instead of drawing a card- zur searches it out and puts it into play- saving your mana- all of these creatures have been used in decks where mana on your opponants turn is of upmost importance- he not only saves you that- but deals with threats that slip through your countermagic. Zur is just plain amazing- and if he doesn't show up in many top 8s, I will eat my shoe.
Zur is Black because he selfishly wants to make himself more powerful. Flavour text.
Zur is Blue because he wants to empower himself through finding tricks and other things he can do which others can't mimic (the compulsive enchanting). It's sorta Black but he's also interested in the gaining of abilities for their own sake.
Zur is White because he ties these two motivations together by believing, in his insanity, that he has to do this. It is a "personal order" situation. He thinks that he has to do this to himself just like anyone else has to eat or sleep. It's just the way things are, for him.
It's a bit rickety, but it's better than the other 3-colours I've seen...
P.S. Nice decklists, One-Gram.
Awesome avatar provided by Krashbot @ [Epic Graphics].
Banner and avatar by the one and only Craven at Epic graphics. Check them out.
Offical High Priest of Reign of Blood
At 4 mana, it basically tutors for card draw + pump effects. The idea that the opponent can not stop the enchantment from hitting play should allow you to have a lot of flexibility when you reach for your enchantment.
First, the best card to grab immediately would be Shielding Plax. It nets you a card, provides untargetability, and can be hard casted if necessary. Preferably, you have mana available to counter any threat or remove a troublesome blocker that would otherwise kill Zur.
After Shielding Plax is on Zur, you can basically do whatever you want with it, fetching multiple Pillory of the Sleepless, Phrexian Arena, or other forms of removal/card advantage. You could effectively stall any creature attack from an opponent with a combination of Ghostly Prison and Pillory/Plumes of Peace effects. This still fits great into Ghost Dad, and would fit perfectly in that build. I'm not sure if it would replace the "Dad" himself, but it is a great engine. If you need to make Zur bigger for a faster clock, Shadow Lance is a great target as well. You can still put the Lance on after Shielding Plax since his ability does not target.
All in all, if it survives the turn you play it, it should win you the game.
BUW looks like a lot of fun...
Fetch mah Pillory or even just regular Pacifism.
Good times
Some people just love Jace a little too much
I see awesome potential with this and ertai the corrupted. one blue mana and tap for a counter spell basically. and if u throw in green for moldervine cloak you can dredge it for more counter-y fun. or probably better then adding in green put in hanna ships navigator
wow. screw you untargetable flying JERK!
i didnt think about that, and after reading the wording a few times it MUST be true. yay. super super good times.
For those who can't seem to think of a way to play a three colour deck in Standard, are you nuts?
1) Any dual land, go.
2) Basic land, any signet, go.
3) Basic land, Zur.
How hard was that? The "dual" in turn 1 could even be one of the snowy taplands. Don't forget Pillar of the Paruns.
.
Boston Magic: The Gathering Examiner - Please read my articles!